Biggest Banks Back to Black in Fed-Fueled Recovery

Bloomberg reported that mortgage revenue at the four largest U.S. lenders is surpassing the costs of faulty home loans and foreclosures from the housing boom as Federal Reserve and government policies help fuel the recovery.

Bloomberg said banks made record earnings from mortgages last year as they were able to lend at rates much higher than the bonds they were packaged into. Bloomberg notes, according to Inside Mortgage Finance, the top four banks controlled about half of the origination market at the end of the third quarter.